Monday 2 July 2012

SCOTLAND PART 1
We arrived in Scotland after a very smooth sunset crossing.

Arriving in Troon in the daylight that is the evening there to the little harbour.  The campsite was nearby on a farm in town so it was an easy day with little riding.
We left Troon to head towards Fort William and the journey up the Lochs, but there was plenty of ground to travel before we got there.
Along the way we had some lovely scenery and of course there were the ever present golf courses.
And some interesting names on some of the properties we passed.
We came to our first Scottish Loch later the first day - Loch Winnoch
And of course we had our ever present bicycle route signs to follow......
We met a cyclist here who offered to show us the most direct route North to the Erskine bridge, so we followed him.   He was 61 years old but on an ultra light bike so he really had us working for the next hour or so with our heavy loads.
We saw this bicycle on the way and had to take a pic as there are some days where ours feel as heavy as this!!!!!
Maybe Fred (Flintstone) left it behind!!!
Eventually Jim dropped us off on the South side of the Erskine Bridge and headed home.....Thanks Jim!   Another great example of one of the many acts of kindness extended to us on our travels.
As you can see it was quite some bridge and the views from the top were pretty good too.
We were soon nearing  Loch Lomond and came across another Lock.....they have all been fascinating and nearly always cause us to stop and watch as the boats come through.
And we are always happy if we can get away from the roads and traffic and cycle along another great bicycle path!!  This one was an old disused railway and had some really interesting structures along the way.
Arriving at Loch Lomond we cycled along its banks and found this interesting little statue in the loch. Its a little boy standing on the top of a pillar.  We were given a couple of stories about it's origin but don't really know what is true, but it is really pretty.
We camped at Luss on the banks of Loch Lomond where we were entertained by lots of inquisitive ducks, and also visited the little village which was just like stepping back in time.  A really pretty little place.
Our tent is becoming our little haven and we are now pretty organised (most of the time) when we camp. This is the storage area or vestibule...
And this is the view of the living quarters!!!
The long evenings are great for a walk along the banks of the loch with a cider
or a beer!!!
Unfortunately our day of fine weather was at an end and we awoke to rain and cold winds!!!!
This is beginning to become a regular occurrence....where is the Summer?????
After battling the the freezing rain for many miles we finally reached Tarbet which had a really nice old hotel building
and a RAILWAY STATION!!!
Where we took refuge and decided to do a little creative navigation and get out of the rain..... including the bikes!!!!
But that is a whole other story and will have to be told in the next instalment!!!!!
Stay Tuned........

1 comment:

  1. Dave where is my beer? Hope you are all well and the weather looks cold. The sunny is shining here today and it is a beautiful day not a cliud in the sky. Love the pictures and keep them comming. Joe Mansour

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